Tuesday, December 18, 2012

After four days of near silence on the Newtown shootings, the National Rifle Association announced moments ago it will have a news conference Friday "to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again."

The full statement:

The National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters – and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown.

Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting.

The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.

The NRA is planning to hold a major news conference in the Washington, DC area on Friday, December 21.

Details will be released to the media at the appropriate time.

The timing allows for passions to calm and funerals to finish, which helps prevent the NRA's words from appearing side-by-side with the grief from Newtown. But the announcement of a "major" news conference is an acknowledgment that the NRA needed to catch up to the gun debate, that Newtown is having a greater impact on the country - and therefore Washington - than previous mass killings.

Since you have to figure this press release has been in the can for a long time now, it's kind of surprising they waited this long to issue it. How nice of them to have given "a decent interval for grieving" before launching their counterattack on the "media" and "liberals" who would dare to link the extraordinary carnage of all these mass murders - which dwarf those of any other country in the world not at war - with the ridiculously easy availability of military grade weaponry at any gun shop in the country. Background checks? Please. Just take a stroll through the parking lot at one of these gun shows.

After all, we know who the REAL victims are don't we? The NRA spent millions of lobbying and contribution dollars, 95% to Republicans, in this last election to make sure we don't forget.

I AM stating the facts. The NRA spent more than $10 million during the last election campaign to defeat President Obama, when gun rights weren't even a campaign issue, and 95% of it went to Republicans. Those are facts and they are not in dispute. Interpret them any way you wish.

Yes, there are Democrats on the NRA payroll but they are few and far between. Two of them, WVa's Joe Manchin and Virginia's Mark Warner, both recipients of the NRA's "A" rating (and largess), have said in recent days that perhaps it's time to have a serious national dialog about this issue.

That heresy is enough for the NRA to now train its laser sights on these former allies. Because that's how bullies roll. And there's no bigger or less principled political bully in America than the NRA.

How about demanding an acknowledgement from the movie and TV industry? the Video game industry? and others who are complicit in this act more so than the NRA? The movie, TV and video game industry have given us this violence in our culture...they are to blame as much as anyone or any organization.....do deny it!!

I have had guns in my face a couple of times, been hit with metal pipes and knocked to the ground and bullied. Having a gun wouldn't have helped me at all. In fact, a gun would probably have exacerbated the situation. I wasn't a threat when I didn't have a gun. Those are my facts. ~Alan

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The Observer's editorial board cares deeply about Charlotte and the Carolinas, and has a problem with public officials who have forgotten that they report to citizens. Editorial page editor Taylor Batten and associate editors Peter St. Onge and Eric Frazier tackle politics and public policy issues locally, across the state and nation. Kevin Siers tackles those issues too in cartoons. Read their columns and biographical information on the CharlotteObserver.com Opinion page.